Sally Rugg Explained

Sally Rugg
Birth Date:2 October 1988
Birth Place:Australia
Occupation:Activist, writer.
Period:2013–present
Partner:Kate McCartney (engaged)

Sally Rugg is a Melbourne-based LGBTIQ activist, feminist and political staffer. Rugg was the GetUp creative and campaigns director between 2013 and 2018. Rugg was one of the many public faces of the "YES" campaign in the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey and also campaigns for Safe Schools.[1] [2] Until her highly publicised dismissal in 2022, Rugg served as the Chief of Staff for Independent Member of Parliament, Monique Ryan.

Early life

During her early years, Rugg volunteered to work with disadvantaged youth. She then started working at the organisation GetUp, while doing her master's degree in arts. She attended events in the ACT when same-sex marriage was made legal for six days, which she says informed her views.[3]

Awards and recognition

Rugg has won numerous awards due to her campaigning for the YES same-sex marriage vote.[4] There is a room named after Rugg in Oxford Street, Sydney named "The Sally Rugg LGBTIQ Pride Room".[5] In 2018, Rugg was awarded the FBi Radio SMAC of the Year award for her work on the YES same-sex marriage campaign[6] and Strayan of the Year by Pedestrian.tv, for her efforts in the YES campaign.[7] and was a finalist for Hero of the Year at the Australian LGBTI Awards.[8] In 2017, Sally was named among Harper’s Bazaar’s 5 Women of The Year, by Cosmopolitan magazine as one of Australia’s Most Influential LGBTIQ people, ranked first in Mammamia’s Most Powerful LGBTIQ Women list, by Amnesty International’s Top 15 Women Championing Human Rights In Australia. Sally was awarded the Young Achiever Award at the 2016 Honour Awards.

Rugg was a finalist for the Honour Awards Young Achiever Award in 2015, was named among the 23 LGBT Australians to Watch in 2016 by SX Magazine and the Top 40 Under Forty by TimeOut,[9] and won the New South Wales Honour Awards Young Achiever Award in 2016.[10]

Personal life

Rugg self-identifies as gay.[11] She lives in Melbourne and is engaged to comedian Kate McCartney.[12]

Writing

Rugg writes regularly on activism and feminism, as well as LGBTIQ and human rights. Rugg's work has been published in media including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Guardian, Vice, Pedestrian as well as Junkee. Rugg was a contributing author for books including The Full Catastrophe, (2019) as well as Growing Up Queer in Australia, (2019).[13] [14] [15]

Her first book, How Powerful We Are: Behind the scenes with one of Australia's leading activists, is her narrative about legalizing same-sex marriage.[16] [17]

Dispute with Monique Ryan

After winning the seat of Kooyong at the 2022 election, Monique Ryan hired Rugg as chief of staff. Rugg was formerly an executive director of Change.org, and was a key voice in the marriage equality debate as campaign director of left-wing activist group GetUp! from 2013 to 2018.[18] Whilst initially things were positive, disagreements emerged regarding Rugg's work hours and responsibilities. Further incidents then arose in November 2022 that which Rugg alleged amounted to hostile conduct in the workplace.[19] [20]

On January 21, six months after Rugg's employment, Rugg resigned as chief of staff, and on January 25, Rugg lodged a court application alleging Ryan and the Commonwealth breached general protections under the Fair Work Act.[21] Rugg claimed to have been forced to work 70–80 hours per week, including weekends, early morning and late nights, 12-hour days on sitting weeks and 8–9 hours in her office on non-sitting days. Ryan disagrees "with any suggestion that I required or expected Ms Rugg to work that number of hours".

After failures at mediation and dispute resolution the case proceeded to trial.[22] Rugg lost an injunction on 7 March 2023 to stop her termination as Ryan's chief of staff. The case management hearing was heard by Justice Debra Mortimer. Part of the reasoning included the fact that Nina O'Connor had already been "seconded" from Climate 200 to replace Rugg.[23]

On 8 May 2023 Rugg accepted a settlement of approximately $100,000 with no admission of fault by Ryan or the government, with all parties paying their own costs.[24] [25]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Street. Andrew P.. 2017-09-09. When Marriage Equality Becomes Law, It Will Be Because of People Like Sally Rugg. Rolling Stone Australia. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20171221010339/http://rollingstoneaus.com/culture/post/sally-rugg-feature/7424. 2017-12-21.
  2. Web site: 2019-09-04. 2019 UniSA Nelson Mandela Lecture. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20201203203004/https://www.unisa.edu.au/connect/Hawke-Centre/Events-calendar/2019_NML/. 2020-12-03. www.unisa.edu.au.
  3. News: Sally Rugg: 'As queer people, we open up the most intimate parts of ourselves to the majority'. Law. Benjamin. 2019-08-05. The Guardian. 2019-10-07. Rugg. Sally. en-GB. 0261-3077.
  4. Web site: Sally Rugg Books. www.hachette.com.au. 2019-10-07.
  5. Web site: The Sally Rugg LGBTIQ Pride Room. 2018-05-13. Song Hotel Sydney Australia. en-AU. 2019-10-07.
  6. Web site: 'YES' campaigner takes out FBi Radio SMAC top gong . 17 May 2018.
  7. Web site: Here's The Full List Of Winners From Oz's First Ever Pop Culture Awards . 28 February 2018 . 17 May 2018.
  8. Web site: Hero . 17 May 2018.
  9. Web site: GetUp! MEDIA ROOM. 4 December 2017.
  10. Web site: LGBTI Heroes Honoured At Community Service Awards. 4 December 2017.
  11. sallyrugg . Sally Rugg . 1321273529006845953 . Cannot believe that I'm gay but don't have a 'personal life' section of my wikipedia page? Very unfair.
  12. sallyrugg. Sally Rugg . 1477843619557953538 . IMPORTANT RETRACTION TO MY 2019 MEMOIR.
  13. Web site: Sally Rugg Speaking Out Agency Book Sally to speak at your event. Speaking Out. en-AU. 2019-10-07.
  14. Web site: She Leads In-Conversation with Sally Rugg. Convenor. Gender Institute. convenor.genderinstitute@anu.edu.au. genderinstitute.anu.edu.au. en. 2019-10-07.
  15. Web site: Shelf Reflection: Sally Rugg. 2018-04-12. Kill Your Darlings. en-us. 2019-10-07.
  16. Web site: Sally Rugg. 2019-06-20. Q&A. en. 2019-07-26.
  17. Book: Rugg, Sally. How powerful we are : behind the scenes with one of Australia's leading activists. 12 January 2021. 9780733642227. Sydney, NSW. 1103918151.
  18. Web site: Thompson . Angus . 2023-01-30 . Activist, adviser Sally Rugg takes boss Monique Ryan to court . 2023-04-26 . The Sydney Morning Herald . en.
  19. News: Karp . Paul . 2023-03-03 . Sally Rugg v Monique Ryan: court documents reveal how working relationship fell apart . en-GB . The Guardian . 2023-04-26 . 0261-3077.
  20. Web site: Rugg v Commonwealth of Australia as represented by the Department of Finance [2023] FCA 179 ]. 2023-04-28 . www.judgments.fedcourt.gov.au.
  21. Web site: 2023-01-30 . Monique Ryan taken to court by Sally Rugg . 2023-04-26 . Australian Financial Review . en.
  22. News: 2023-03-02 . MP Monique Ryan and chief of staff Sally Rugg fail to settle dispute after four-week mediation . en-AU . ABC News . 2023-04-26.
  23. News: Karp . Paul . 2023-03-03 . Judge says Sally Rugg returning to work for Monique Ryan may be 'simply unworkable' . en-GB . The Guardian . 2023-04-26 . 0261-3077.
  24. News: Karp . Paul . Sally Rugg accepts $100,000 to settle workplace dispute with MP Monique Ryan . 8 May 2023 . The Guardian. 8 May 2023 .
  25. Web site: Le Grand . Chip . Launched in a blaze of publicity, Ryan v Rugg settles in a whimper . 8 May 2023 . The Age. 8 May 2023 .